All of a sudden, Éloi tripped over himself, then pointed and shouted:
"Him?!"
Ash flinched, then paused his stride.
As Éloi picked himself up, he dusted the soot off himself while muttering:
"I thought Ashley was a woman... I mean, look how cute she is! Oops... he!"
For once in his life, Ash had no rebuttal. No words simmered in his mind — seething hatred, for sure, but no words to express it.
He’d been mistaken for a woman many times before by those who’d seen or heard his name, but not him in person. But that was a mistake cleanly righted the moment they saw him.
But to mistake him for a woman after seeing him?
’This guy is a total idiot.’
More than that...
Ash flexed his hands, then clenched them tightly.
’I detest fools like this man...’
Eventually, all Ash said to Éloi was:
"I said to call me Ash."
Before promptly continuing the downward march.
Claude scratched his head, then said:
"I’ve only known you for half an hour, Éloi, but you sure are a strange one. Still, you’re someone I’m glad to have around."
Taking a deep breath in, Sandra smiled and added:
"Y-yeah."
With evercrescent glee, Éloi began skipping down the rocks.
"I’m glad to have you guys as well! I don’t know what I’d do if I were alone!"
’Well, aren’t you a bundle of joy.’
Ash looked over at the blonde man who reminded him of his invader when he was back on the Ravagers. The overly eager Jae who’d been all smiles and cheers when they’d first met.
Claude chuckled, then turned his head and said:
"Anyway, Nora, you spoke as if you knew Ash?"
Nora, who’d eventually gotten up to stay in the monster-repellent field around the Totem, said:
"He was mostly known for streaming MD. This past year, he even went pro and won MDGC."
"Mythic Dominion? I don’t play—"
All of a sudden, Sandra cut off Claude with a shout while pointing at Ash.
"Wait... don’t tell me... Epitome?! Is that him?!"
’Ah, she knows my tag.’
Nora confirmed that suspicion with a slight nod.
Despite her obvious anxieties, the short revelation of who Ash was shocked her so far out of reality that she momentarily stopped despairing at the situation.
Éloi suddenly ground his skipping to a halt, then turned around and stared up at Ash.
"Friend, you’re Epitome? Wow! Nice to meet you! I’m a big fan!"
Sandra pointed at Ash, then said:
"Éloi, did you not see the news?!"
"Ah, all that stuff about verbal and physical abuse...? Yeah, that is pret-ty bad. But, I mean, it only just came out! We haven’t heard his side of the story at all!"
Sandra’s eyes grew wide.
"Have you not seen how he’s acted here? It’s definitely all true!"
"Well, true or not, it’s the future that matters to me! If he reflects on his actions, apologizes and changes, then I see no problem!"
"Do you really think someone like that can be forgiven?!"
Dodging Éloi during his descent, Ash calmly said:
"It’s all true. Nor do I have a desire to change how I operate..." Ash’s eyes flicked to the side. "And, I know they cannot approach us currently, but your screaming keeps drawing monsters to us."
Sighing, Claude muttered quietly:
"I see... so this guy has a reputation for being an asshole. That makes things difficult."
Éloi, now lagging a little behind, ducked under the Totem, then said:
"Well, personality problems or not, there’s no one else I’d rather lead me than the god-tier gamer Epitome in a situation like this!"
Oddly, Sandra chimed in with a slightly less tense expression than before.
"Well, if you put it like that... if this is a game, then perhaps listening to him wouldn’t be so bad."
Nora calmly cut in.
"Lead us? It seems neither of you has a grasp on who he is."
Éloi skipped until he was matching strides with Nora.
"Hmm? How so?"
"Being good at something and being a good leader are not synonymous."
Éloi pounded his chest, then said:
"Well, yeah, but he always knew what to do in ranked! Trust me, I always watch his streams! He has insanely good judgment!"
Nora looked over her shoulder. For a moment, her blue eyes locked with Ash’s amber ones.
"The only one he’s capable of leading is himself."
At Nora’s words, Ash couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth lift up.
’So... she knows me well.’
After all, that was Ash’s unspoken creed.
’If you delegate a task, you’re accepting it’s not going to be done the way you want.’
For Ash, nobody could live up to his expectations. If he were to order them to do something, all he would get in return would be disappointment. A far cry from what he’d be able to achieve if he’d done the task himself. Anyone who watched him for a long time would realize that he’d never once requested a play, nor even demanded something of his teammates. All his shot-calling amounted to was detailing his own play, letting others play around him as they wished.
A glaring fault — a lack of trust — that Ash cared not to address.
And it was a fault that had followed him into this strange world.
Eventually, the ground started to level out, and the crystal protrusions, which seemed small before, now towered over them.
Ash spoke his thoughts aloud as he looked around the shimmering blue crystal forest and made sure the Totem behind him didn’t get stuck on anything.
"What the Holy Land needs most is a suitable water and food source; however, Totem defensibility is also a high priority. Looking for a place with natural barriers is imperative."
Claude, half-ignoring Ash, looked over at the other three, then said:
"I don’t know much about him, but he sounds competent. From what you’ve said, following his directives doesn’t seem too bad — as long as he doesn’t do anything outrageous, like deliberately sacrificing one of us."
Éloi hit the bottom of his fist into his open palm.
"Ah! So that’s what he meant by that cringey ’If you wish to follow and cannot, then that is merely a result of your own inadequacy’ statement."
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